Confessions of an Amnesiac MotorMouth
by love.devil.movies.baby
Summary: Wade Wilson just woke up in a government issued tent in the middle of nowhere in 1985. Where is he? Why is he there? And why the hell can't he remember anything? With only a duffle bag and his trusty katanas, he's going to find out. Future Deadpool/OC
1. Chapter 1

It took nearly all of my energy to drag my eyelids open. They felt like sandbags were weighing them down. I managed to pry them open and brush what felt like a pound of sleep out of them. Then I sat up.

Crap.

My head swam and I immediately crashed back down onto the hard ground. Wait. The hard ground? What was I doing on the ground? And where was I? I stared groggily at the drab olive green tarp above me. Damn, it was ugly, whatever it was. I rolled over and noticed a zipper. I unzipped it and climbed out. I was in a tent. I struggled out of it, still trying to get the world to stop spinning. When I managed to pull myself out of the stupid thing, I confirmed my first thought. I had been lying, probably unconscious, in a ugly tent. It looked like it had rained the night before; the top was bent in and holding a bunch of dirty water. The poles holding it up were bent with the weight. Cheap thing would have probably crashed on top of me if I hadn't got out of it when I did. I stepped closer to look at it. The poles were rusted. How long had the thing been there? How long had I been in it?

This was not good.

I scoured my mind, desperately grabbing for any scrap or hint. I came up blank. Well, not completely blank. It appeared I was something of a genius. My mind was running a mile a minute; I probably could have done calculus in my head if I tried. The thing that had me freaking out was the fact that I didn't have a single personal memory. I spun around to look at my surroundings, hoping to shed some light. I was in some sort of forest. Green, deep, dark green the exact shade of the tent met my eyes. The trunks were massive, thicker than my arm was long. I had seen these trees before.

Africa.

I was surprised at how quickly the memory came to me. I recognized these trees because I had seen them before. I was in Africa. I didn't know how I knew it, but I did. As sure as the sky was blue, that tent was ugly and I had a headache that felt like I drank a handle of malt liquor the night before, I knew I was in Africa.

Now there was a new issue. Why the hell was I in Africa? I looked at my hands. White. Tan though. I had to admit I had nice hands. But anyway, they most definitely were not the hands of an African man. I focused again, trying to follow the train of thought that Africa had triggered. Nothing. I sighed and turned back to the tent. Maybe there would be a clue in there. I ducked into it and saw a duffel bag. It looked like the tent, drab and shabby. Government issued by the look of it. For some reason it seemed natural to me that this all had something to do with the government. Maybe I was one of those crazy conspiracy theorists. I unzipped the bag and shook it out. A long, thin package rolled out and onto my lap. It was wrapped in brown paper. I pulled the paper back and two katanas rolled out. I grasped the wooden handles and felt a familiar sensation run through me. This felt right. I knocked the paper off completely to get a good look at them. Long, thin and lethal, they were gorgeous. I looked back at the handles. They were intricately carved, not professionally obviously, but by the owner. It was my handiwork. I knew that I loved these weapons, for whatever reason. I also knew that I was good with them. I was the damn best. The Annie Oakley of swords, beautiful and deadly.

I just wasn't sure what that said about me.

I shook the thought and wrapped them up again, carefully. The only other thing in the bag was a change of clothing and a canteen. Great. I was glad for the swords though; they gave me some insight, some piece of my identity. I flipped the bag over. There was a name on it.

WADE WILSON

It was in neat black letters, embroidered on. They were faded, like the bag was well worn. Wade Wilson. That was my name. Or at least, that was what I was going to call myself. It was a weird name. I wondered what kind of drugs my mother was on to name me Wade. Maybe she was an English professor with an alliteration fetish. Or maybe she just threw some scrabble tiles at the wall and picked whatever landed on the floor face up. Either way, it was unique. I kind of liked it. No one else would have that name. And it was another piece that was uniquely me.

I repacked the bag and decided I had spent enough time in the tent. It was time to figure out what I was doing in Africa. I decided my story would be that I was a soldier, American by the looks of it (even though I don't think I am American--but that's irrelevant since I'm not sure) and I had been abandoned. I would tell the truth about my memory loss, I had no choice, though I preferred not to. I grabbed my bag, strapped on the boots that had been in it, and set off. I walked North; I always liked North, it was a good, forward direction. I had a good sense of direction. Something was telling me to walk this way, some instinct that I couldn't afford to ignore. So North I walked. It didn't take long to get out of the trees and into a small clearing with a pond. I paused next to it, needing to see my reflection.

It was a nice reflection. I looked to be a inch or so taller then six feet; I had dark brown hair. It was messy and a little bit long, but it made sense somehow. I was tan, built like a soldier. I was good looking.

And apparently, a narcissist.

Still, I know a good looking man when I see one, and it added a little swagger to my step that I fell into that category. I practiced some facial expressions for my benifit. I smiled, frowned, looked surprised. I was trying on things, seeing what worked, what felt natural. I had a crooked smile. Overall, I decided that I had a charming sort of look to me, like a rogue. I wouldn't trust myself if I saw me. Hopefully other people would.

After entertaining myself for a few minutes, and drinking some water, I started walking again. It was maybe a half hour before a town came into sight. It was pretty large, but definitely not a city. Maybe there I would find some answers.

Either way, I didn't have a lot of options. There were some serious downsides to having no memory.

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**So, I have a pretty solid idea of where I want to go with this. If you like it, or are even curious as to where I am going with it, please drop a review. If no one is reading it, I won't bother to post it. But just to clear some things up, it is obviously a story about Deadpool, who I think is an interesting character. I won't give away, but it is from his first person perspective. Hopefully I get the character's voice down. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Only one review, but a bunch more people viewed it so I will keep going. Thanks for the interest. :)**

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The village was bigger than I anticipated. Television has the masses convinced that all of Africa is mud huts and grass roofs, but a lot of it is modernized. Places like Nairobi have skyscrapers and the whole shebang. The settlement in front of me was the halfway point between the tribesmen huts and the cities. The outskirts had some hut-like structures and some fenced in goats and pigs. But the closer you got to the middle, the bigger the buildings got until right smack-dab in the center there was a large concrete building. I was willing to bet that you could see it from everywhere in the little city. It had a gold dome that caught the sunlight and was almost blinding when you looked at it straight on. It looked horribly out of place, like someone's idea of what they thought a western mansion would look like. To me it looked like a gaudy, shiny warehouse. It was the building equivalent of a bum wearing a crown.

I pried my eyes off of the weird building and focused on three children in front of me. They were behind the fence staring at me in wide-eyed confusion. Two boys and a little girl, all probably under age ten, though the girl couldn't be older than five. They had stopped playing when they saw me and now were eyeing me warily. The boys had shifted the little girl behind them and she was peaking out at me. They were cute little kids, probably siblings. They were dark skinned and thin, with full lips. They looked Kenyan. Maybe that's where I was. That would make sense. I waved at them.

"Hey," I tried English, even though I knew it was a snowball's chance in hell that the spoke it. The sound of my own voice surprised me, but I recognized it. It was the same voice that echoed in my head when I thought. The kids seemed startled and must have decided that I wasn't someone they wanted to talk to because they took off on skinny, colt-like legs, the little girl trailing behind them, eyes still on me.

I shrugged it off. I really didn't give a damn about kids anyway. They always got in the way. I kept walking, and started humming some tune that I didn't recognize. Apparently my subconscious knew what it was though, because the melody flowed effortlessly and I found myself doing a little two step down the road. I was really getting into the groove when a bunch of adults, all wide-eyed like the little munchkins, started popping out all over the place like gophers. They all were looking at me like I was some sort of giant roach and they were debating squishing me. I stopped, hoping they wouldn't make a move, but knowing that if they did, I could have my katanas out and at their necks before they even knew what hit them.

They were all staring at me intently. I can't lie; I'm pretty sure I like attention, but I like it on my terms and having a whole town's population staring at you is pretty unnerving. I settled on smiling at them all. A pretty young girl caught my eye and I winked at her. She backed up into the house behind her.

Hmmm. I'm going to have to work on the charm. I'm pretty sure that used to work.

I kids I first saw were back, this time with a posse in tow. An important looking posse. A man in a suit was jogging down the road at me. He was a big guy, kind of like a walrus in a tux. He was bellowing like a bull and I felt a strong urge to make fun of him raise up. I squashed it. It's probably not a good idea to make fun of someone when you're on their doorstep. So instead, I bit my tongue and dropped my bag. He paused in front of me. He might have said something, but it sounded more like a moose snorting than any actual words. I cocked a brow at him. He raised a hand and bent over in the middle, trying to catch his breath. Another urge rose up, this time to kick him and see if he rolled over like a beach ball. Again, I quelled it. But it was pretty hard to do.

When Porky finally caught his breath, he tried again. "Who are you?" He asked it in Swahili.

I understood every word. It was like some channel opened up in my mind and a bunch of knowledge surged forward. Most notably the fact that I could apparently speak Swahili, English, French, Spanish, German and possibly some Japanese. I decided that I should tap into Swahili. I would worry about the others later.

"Wade Wilson." I answered.

"And what are you doing here?" The people around us had formed a circle, completely surrounding me. I gave them a look, then answered again.

"I have no idea. I woke up in the middle of nowhere and have no memory of anything."

"You speak Swahili?" A murmur rose up in the crowd and Tubby looked confused. I rolled my eyes at his question. I was speaking Swahili, so what kind of idiot would need to ask me if I spoke it? Fat Albert was looking at me expectantly though, so I assumed he was exactly the kind of idiot who would ask me that question.

"Yes. But I don't know where I learned it. I don't remember anything." The crowd grew louder as the discussed me like I wasn't standing right there. I waited patiently for them to decide what to do next. It wasn't like I had anywhere better to go. A woman had joined Dumpy. He whispered (loudly) to her for a moment and she listened intently, but her eyes stayed trained on me. When Jelly-Belly wrapped up whatever he was saying to her, she stood up to her full height and gave me a lengthy look. I returned it.

I had to be impressed; she held my gaze. Her eyes were calculated but not cold, like she was trying to figure something out about me. She was coffee-colored, with wild, curly black hair that was twisted back from her forehead and billowed out behind her. She was tall. And as for her body, the word stacked came to mind. Even in her pants and loose shirt I could tell she was all soft curves and it took a lot of effort to focus my eyes on her and not the twins. After a moment, she must have decided I was an egnima because she spoke.

"You really can't remember anything?" she had an authoritative voice. It wasn't overly loud, but it was confident and demanded the truth. So I gave it to her.

"Nope." she continued staring at me, like a person who thinks she's being bull-shitted but can't prove it.

"How long have you been wandering around?" she crossed her arms over her chest now, her posture all business. I could sense the rest of the onlookers hanging on our every word.

"Since this morning. I woke up in the forest, with only this bag," I kicked it to illustrate my point. Something told me to leave out the tent, so I did.

"Are you military?"

"Maybe, I don't remember."

"American?"

"I think so. But I'm not sure." There were a couple more seconds of awkward silence before she spoke again, this time with a resigned sigh.

"And your name is..."

"Wade Wilson," the more I said it, the more I liked it.

"Well, Wade Wilson. I am Kioni and this," she gestured to Elmer Fudd, "Is Gatete."

"Call me Gary," he interrupted with a toothy smile. I watched Kioni's eye twitch in annoyance. She shot 'Gary' a look.

"Welcome to Nakuru, Kenya." she finished. The moment she completed her welcome, people surged forward, eager to welcome me as well. They were a friendly group, eager to trust. Maybe a little too eager. I glanced back at the woman who seemed to have the power in this place. She looked back at me, watching carefully.

She wasn't as naive as the rest. Something told me I would have to watch her as closely as she was watching me. I needed to win her over. Kioni. It meant "the one who sees" in Swahili. I thought it was appropriate.

'Gary' wiggled his bulk between me and the rest of the population.

"Hello, Mr. Wilson." he started enthusiastically. "Welcome. You must meet the rest of the town," he gestured to the crowd who looked all too eager to do just that. "But first, we must get you settled. It would not due to leave someone in your condition out in the wild." I didn't appreciate being treated like a handicapped person, though I could probably use the man's misgivings to my advantage. "You must stay in the house of the governor as our honored guest." he pointed to the warehouse importantly. "The governor will want to meet you. I am his chief adviser." he looked smug.

"Cool." it was the only word I could think of that didn't insult him.

"It is indeed." he talked like someone desperately trying to sound important. "Kioni will take you. She's the governor's daughter." the woman in question shot him a warning look.

"Perhaps it is not so wise to reveal so much so soon," she said pointedly to Gary. He shrugged.

"Nonsense," he declared joyfully, then set off waddling down the road, chattering a mile a minute. I picked up my bag to follow him, prying it away from nosy onlookers. I looked back at Kioni.

"You don't trust me?" I asked in my innocent voice.

"That is yet to be seen." She raised one slim eyebrow in my direction. Her lukewarm tone never changed. She turned around in a flurry of curls and started down the street.

Oh yeah. This was a chick I was going to have to crack sooner rather than later. I think I'm going to enjoy this...


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the people who reviewed and subscribed and favorited. You guys make me happy. :D**

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"Gary" was talking a mile a minute about something I couldn't care less about. Luckily, I seemed to have retained my ability to look like I'm listening without actually paying attention. I took the opportunity to observe everything around me, most notably the fact that Fatso waddled like a duck when he walked and Kioni looked fantastic from behind.

1 out of 2 ain't bad.

We were apparently on the roads straight to the governor's house. Or at least, that's what I think Gordo was saying. it was hard to hear over the chatter of the excited crowd around us. People were dipping in and out of our little trio, all smiling brightly at me. Wilbur kept trying to shoo them away. It wasn't working. The people retreated back a few feet but still were listening and staring.

The three kids from earlier scampered around us, nearly sending "Gary" over like a Weeble; he wobbled but he didn't fall down. Which was too bad really. I still was curious about how far he would roll. Ah well, perhaps some other time. Anyway, they ran up to Kioni and she swooped the little girl up in what looked like a familiar gesture. The girl whispered something in her ear. It apparently had something to do with me because the two of them looked at me quickly and then the kid burst into peals of laughter. Kioni cracked a smile herself, but then gently admonished the girl and put her back down on the ground. The boys hugged her knees briefly before sending me one last, curious look and running off ahead of the crowd.

Tubby was still trying to shoo them off. I watched him bemusedly, silently counting down the seconds until he finally gave up. Kioni stopped whatever she was doing and must have taken pity on the guy because the next thing I knew, she was raising her voice.

"Alright. There will be time to harass the visitor later. Let him get settled." In seconds, and after many shouted goodbyes, the crowd dispersed.

I had to admit. The woman commanded respect. "Gary" looked relieved.

"Well now, let's show you the Mansion."

The mansion/warehouse was made entirely of smooth concrete, with stones pressed into the front. It was better looking up close, but it still didn't approach western standards. I don't think it really needed to. They probably would have been better served designing a house to their standards. This big "American" house was out of place.

The doors to the mansion/warehouse were made of a solid, impenetrable wood. Probably an attempt to keep out possible attackers. All of the work put into the heavy, ornate door was worthless though; the hinges were weak and rusted. I could level the whole thing with a well-aimed kick.

I wonder why I notice things like that. Maybe I was an interior designer or an architect. Probably not though. I had a sneaking suspicion I was more like a thief. Or maybe a professional door-kicker. That'd be pretty cool.

I was so lost in my musings about the ins and outs of doors (haha I made a pun) that I almost missed what was going on. "Gary" was talking again, but I think this time it was about something important, or at least worth listening to. I tuned him in.

"This is the governor's house and temporary Capital building. You will be staying here." That to me seemed odd. They were letting me stay where they ran their government and where their leader lived. Good thing I wasn't trying to stage a coup.

Or maybe I was. I hope not. Messy business, overthrowing governments.

Wait, how do I know that? Seems like an odd thing to know. I don't think I'd like overthrowing a government.

"You need the tour." Chunky was on a role again, this time about the house. He was rambling about its construction when a guy who was about 1/3 of his weight suddenly invaded our space.

"The governor needs you." He announced it without the usual pomp and circumstance that went with things like that.

"Gary" of course, more than made up for that.

"Oh, of course," he was making the wounded moose sounds and sweating and sputtering. "Kioni, perhaps you could--"

She cut him off. "Go. I will show him around."

I have never been happier in my life to see the backside of anyone. That statement was true for about 30 seconds. Then Kioni walked by me again. Hot damn. They make them great in Africa.

"Do you want to put your bag down first or see the house?" she asked, her pleasant voice all business.

"I can carry it. Show me your castle, princess." She did not seem to appreciate the nickname. She didn't say anything, but her eye twitched slightly. Ten minutes and I already knew her tell. How useful.

"Alright," she agreed, choosing to ignore the comment. She took off down a hallway. I sped up, coming up to walk right beside her. She showed me a few rooms, namely a pretty nice gym and a pool that were open to the whole population. We were standing in the pool area, watching people splash around amaturely. I took the opportunity to ask her some questions.

"Do you live here?"

"I do." she didn't look at me, but smiled at some children in the shallow area.

"With your family? Husband, kids?"

She turned to me, "Why so curious?"

"Just wondering." I shrugged innocently.

"I live with my family yes. My sister and her husband, my niece and nephews and my father." so she did know the kids.

"So you're single?" Her head whipped around, her mouth open in mild shock.

"You ask a lot of questions." she said in lieu of an answer.

"So ask me some of your own." I smiled crookedly, putting on my appealing voice.

"Alright. For someone who has no memory, you certainly know a lot of things. Your Swahili is nearly flawless. Why do you think that is?"

Smart girl. I answered with a shrug, "I remember all the things I can do, facts and all of that. But I don't remember anything about me. No memories, no family, no friends, nothing about how I learned all the things I know, my age, nothing. I can't lie. It sucks pretty bad."

"Yes, that would, as you say, suck." she seemed satisfied with my answer. At least, for now. She stared at me again, locking her eyes on mine, searching for something. I held her gaze, returning the intensity of her stare. I wanted to see if she would break the gaze first. She did, but with dignity, choosing to speak again. "Let me show you your room." I just nodded.

She led me away from the pool and to the other side of the house where some rooms were. We passed a large one that I assumed was her father's, and then another suite from which her sister emerged and introduced herself. She was younger than Kioni, and just as pretty, but thinner and more naive. Her husband smiled at me and it seemed genuine enough. Sure enough, the kids peeked out of the door, the little girl in giggles again. I smiled at them all. We went past a few more doors and around a corner before we came to a halt.

"This is your room." she pushed the door open. It was comfortably decorated, with a nice bed and dresser, and some plants to brighten it up. I put my bag on the top of the dresser and looked back to her.

"Where's your room?" I asked. She smiled, her full lips pulling back to reveal two rows of straight, white teeth. Instead of answering, she walked out of my door and to another directly across the hall. She opened it and stepped in.

"Right here," she said. "If you need anything, I'll never be far." Oh, she could play. It was ingenious. I would never be far from her eyes. This girl was going to be fun.

"I won't hesitate to ask then," I returned her smile with one of my own, this time my mischievous smile.

I think I'm going to like it here.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the interest! Don't forget to review if you are so inclined! :)**

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The next few days were pretty uneventful. I met nearly everyone in the village. They all waved whenever they saw me. The attention was nice, don't get me wrong, the ladies were all over me. But I was still hoping my novelty would wear off sooner rather than later. I had practically no privacy. People burst into my room at all hours of the day, (I had been seen naked by no less then 10 people, most of them women) when I used the pool or gym I always attracted a crowd, and kids hung all over me like I was a jungle gym. Besides, having the ladies throwing themselves at you is cool, but there's something to be said for a challenge. Wherever I went, a gaggle of women wasn't far behind, and it was starting to work my nerves.

The only women who didn't follow me were married. Oh, and also a certain governor's daughter. She was always perfectly pleasant, gracing me with a smile and a wave when she passed, occasionally asking me how life was going, but otherwise she was uninterested. She was a challenge to the ultimate degree, the grand prize. The more she ignored me, the more I wanted her. I didn't know what made me want her like that, but it didn't matter. It was something to do, it kept me occupied and it let me use my scheming mind. I already had a full proof plan. Trouble was, I didn't see her enough to put it in action.

My opportunity came when I least expected it. I got up early, like I always did. I discovered I had an inconvenient habit of waking up sometime around 3 in the morning no matter when I went to bed. I tried to fight it, but it was no use. It's pretty annoying having an internal clock as regular as mine. I wondered what kind of psycho I was to want to get up and start the day at three in the morning. No one should be up at that unholy hour. And no one was; nobody but me at least. I had gotten use to it though, no that I liked it. Plus, being up that early let me find out some interesting things about myself. For instance, I could heal. Everyone can heal, obviously, but I can heal super fast. My cuts just seal up in seconds, like they never happened at all. It's pretty awesome. I found it out one morning when I went for a jog (it's hard to maintain my figure when people watch me workout in the gym). I was running, barefoot, since boots suck for jogging, and I stepped on a sharp rock. Almost before I knew what happened, my foot was sealing itself. But that's not all. I run much faster than the average human being, like Olympic sprinter fast. Except I never seem to get tired. And my senses seem enhanced; I hear things, smell things, see things, react to things much faster than everyone else. Oh, and I kicked a punching bag in half with barely any effort the other day.

All of these things lead me to believe that I am a mutant. Or maybe a superhero. But I'm pretty selfish, so I think I'm going to go with mutant.

I remember vaguely things about mutants. People who's genes inexplicably evolved far ahead of the general population and who possess all kinds of awesome abilities and powers. The thing I recall the most though, is that the general population isn't too fond of mutants. Jealous probably. Who doesn't want powers? No one, that's who. Anyway, in light of this recollection, I decided to keep my powers on the low. Which is pretty hard, considering every time someone drops something, I want to speed over and catch it, and every time I work out I nearly break something in the gym. But so far, no one had found out. Whoo for me.

Any-who, back to my opportunity. I just got back from my 4 a.m. jog and was wandering through the halls of the mansion/warehouse back to my room. People were getting up now, I had run around for about an hour and a half and people in the village were big on waking up early. I walked past a room that I knew belonged to the governor and that's when I heard it: arguing. It was clearly Kioni and her father. I had met the Governor a few times and knew him by face but not name. He looked a little like his daughter, but more severe, like he had seen things and knew things that had hardened him. He knew I was staying in his house, but apparently was too busy to take the trouble to meet me. I didn't really care anything about him. But these raised voices peaked my interest.

"It's not fair!" that was Kioni's voice. That was an interesting statement. It has come to my attention that life, as a general rule, is that antithesis of fair. I assumed that an intelligent woman such as Kioni would know that. I listened a little harder to see exactly what wasn't fair.

"It's for the good of our city. We have finally found peace. Do you want to destroy it?" that was her dad. Peace with who? Africa was a war-ravished place and peace here was hard to come by.

"But you became governor to stop those old traditions and to move forward. My compliance in this matter should not effect the peace between our nations..." her father cut her off. So this was a diplomatic situation.

"It will. Not all are as ready to move forward as you. You should be happy to help." I nearly laughed. Whenever people told you that you should be happy to do something, it is almost guaranteed that you will be the opposite.

"So you would really sell out your daughter for an unnecessary cause?" Ouch. She went straight for the throat on that one.

"I do not see it that way. And he is a good man. You will be comfortable." Huh. Sounds like an arranged marriage. Kioni doesn't seem to be the type to go for that.

"But will I be happy?" That was a good question. I already knew the answer and I assume the two of them did too.

"That is up to you. Your sister is happy and she was in the same situation."

"No she was not. They loved each other. It was simply a bonus that it worked out in the government's favor." So this was not an unusual thing.

"Nevertheless, I won't discuss it anymore. He will be here next week to begin preparations and by the end of the month, it will be done." Yikes. Apparently this guy was just fine with pawning off his daughters like fruit baskets.

"But--" her voice cracked a little.

"Kioni, go. I have things to work on." his tone was final.

"You won't do this," anger seeped into her every word and I braced myself for the inevitable blow to the governor's ego. It came and it was a beauty. "I won't be trapped in a loveless marriage like my mother."

Whoa crap. An explosion of sound, like something being thrown to the ground came from the room and I took off. I was halfway down a hallway around the corner from the room when I heard Kioni slam out of the room and down the hall. She was grumbling to herself and storming towards the gym. Here was my opportunity. I waited for a few minutes, forming a more solid plan in my mind.

When I walked in, she was wearing boxing gloves and wailing on a punching bag. I was willing to bet she was angry. It was obvious she was on the brink of tears; I could smell the saline and her eyes were unusually shiny. She looked up at me when I came in.

"Good morning," I greeted her like I had no idea what was going on. But of course I did. That was the genius of my plan. She just nodded at me. I walked around the back of the bag and held it for her.

"Thanks," she muttered. She was hitting the bag so hard I was fairly certain that some bruises were appearing and rapidly healing across my abdomen where the bag kept hitting it. It was worth it. Or at least, it would be if this worked.

"Something bothering you?" I asked after about five minutes of taking her abuse. She trained her big sad eyes on me and seemed to contemplate telling me.

"Just, I mean..." she started, punctuating every syllable with another punch. "Who does he think he is? He can't just pawn me off like that. I hate that guy!" a particularly hard hit accompanied this announcement and she made a sound of pain and cradled her arm.

"You know," I pulled the glove off of her hand to look at her wrist. "If you extend your arm like this," I demonstrated, "you get a lot more force behind your hits, and it won't hurt as badly." She looked at me curiously.

"Let me guess. Fighting is another of your secret talents." she tried to keep her voice light, but she was still upset. Perfect. Upset women are the easiest to manipulate.

"Martial arts actually. I could teach you some. Plus, I don't know who you're mad at, but there's nothing better for relieving stress than hitting the crap out of someone. I'll even be your human punching bag." I flashed her my most charming smile.

She contemplated it for a second, still fighting back tears. "Come on," I urged her. "You'll at least have an outlet until you figure whatever is bothering you out."

"I don't know if I'll be able to stop this," she muttered. I didn't like her defeated tone.

"Well, at least you'll be able to beat the shit out of whoever is upsetting you." this got a giggle out of her. I had her right where I wanted her.

"Sure. Why not?" she sighed. "It could be fun." she gave me a mischievous smile and hit me in the arm. Hard.

Oh yeah. She was going to be putty in my hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the support! There aren't a ton of reviews, but I know there are a ton of viewers. Drop a review please, and tell me what you think!**

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Kioni was a quick learner. By the end of our first session in the gym she had successfully given me a giant bruise on my arm. The girl packs a mean punch when she's pissed, I'll tell you that. She already had the foundation of fighting down from kick boxing in her spare time. She said that she and her sister took lessons when they were younger. I asked her why she stopped.

"Our father thinks it's unlady-like." She punctuated this terse statement by kicking the bag off of the hook. Yikes.

"So your dad gets his way a lot?" She stopped to watch me haul the bag up and back onto the hook. I made sure to do it with one arm. She raised her eyebrows ever so slightly and her Hershey-colored eyes ran over me quickly. It was a nearly imperceptible motion, but a major victory for me.

"He thinks he does," she played her glance off masterfully. "But we find ways to circumvent him," she smirked a little bit with some memory. For a second I felt a weird pang like jealousy. I missed having memories. I'm betting someone as interesting as me had good ones. I shook the feeling.

"Like boxing in here with me?" she smiled at my statement.

"He's not all bad. He cares deeply for our country. We just achieved a hard-fought peace. Years of war, death, poverty, they take their toll, especially on him. But he does his best for us. Sometimes though, he's old fashioned." she sighed just slightly when she said this.

"Like now?" I knew I was pushing it, but if she was answering I was going to keep asking. She shrugged nonchalantly, but averted her eyes for the first time. I pulled off my gloves and swung into a nearby chair. "Look," I told her, "you're a grown woman. he can't make you do anything. How old are you anyway?" It occurred to me that I didn't know.

She looked up at me, a fire blazing in her eyes. "You don't understand!" she declared. "You don't even know what he's asking." I almost snorted. Asking was a loose interpretation. It sounded more like demanding to me. Still, I played it cool. "Besides, he wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," she snarked as an after thought. I had to admire her loyalty to her family, even when she was mad at them. I made a mental note not to insult them again in front of her.

"What's your mom think?" I chose to ask another question. Ohhh, I was so sneaky, sometimes I even impressed myself.

"I wouldn't know, she left a long time ago." Apparently I had touched a nerve, if her clipped tone meant anything.

Suddenly her watch became extremely interesting to her. I sensed I had just been shut out. Whoops.

"I should get ready for today," she was pulling her gloves off and her hair down. It fell like a curtain down her back, damp from an hour of frustrated exercise. I felt a sort of heat flare up inside of me as I looked at her, and a lot of less-than-PG thoughts sprung up about what I could do in here with the door locked. For a moment it seemed like she could sense them. She gave me a quick, nervous glance and her cheeks colored. She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. Flushed, she turned and headed toward the door.

"I'll walk you back." It sounded like an offer, but she honestly had no choice. I was walking her back whether she liked it or not. She nodded.

"Ok." The word wavered a little bit, and she gave me another nervous look. I gave her a comforting smile.

The walk back was silent, and if I were the sort of person who had awkward moments, I'm guessing it would have been awkward. Luckily for me, I was shameless. And shameless people are never awkward. At her door we stopped and she turned to me.

"Thanks for letting me vent. Even though you really don't know what it was about." she smiled a little at the thought.

"Anytime. And are you going to tell me what the issue is?" She gave me a once over.

"Work out with me tomorrow and we'll see what slips out," she smirked. I had to smile too. I had an idea about what I would like to slip out tomorrow in the gym, and they weren't words.

"How about we jog tomorrow? I don't think the punching bag can handle much more of you." she laughed.

"Maybe. Do you think you can handle me?" There was no imagining it that time. The tone, the big eyes, the hair flip, she was flirting.

"I _know _I can handle you." I leaned back on my door frame across the hall. She laughed.

"Alright then. See you tomorrow. And I'm 25," I looked at her curiously. "You asked, remember? I'll be 26 on my next birthday."

I grinned. "If I'm around for it, I'll have to get you something. Maybe we can have a group birthday party, since I can't remember my birthday. It'll be so great, you won't mind sharing. I'll get the little cone hats and noisemakers and everything."

"I don't think you need a noisemaker," she teased.

"Maybe not," I conceded. No point in denying I like to talk. She was smiling at me and shutting the door when her sister came around the corner.

"Kioni!" she asked in frantic Swahili," What did Dad wa--" she cut off when she saw me. "Hello Mr. Wilson. What are you doing here?" her tone was polite, but she flicked her eyes knowingly at her sister, her lips turned up slightly at the corner.

"Call me Wade. And I was just talking to your sister." She looked at Kioni expectantly.

"Wade and I just came back from the gym, Akina. He offered to jog with me, since you cannot keep up." She teased her little sister.

"I chase two children all day long. That is enough jogging for me." Akina good-naturedly fired right back.

"Well, it was good to see you Wade. I will see you tommorow morning." Kioni again moved inside, sister in tow.

"Good-bye ladies," I flashed my charming smile.

"Good-bye!" the hig pitched chorus followed me into my bedroom along with Akina's next comment that I'm pretty sure she didn't think I could hear.

"Working out in the gym huh? What kind of working out?" She was laughing as she said this.

"Shush, Akina. The kind of working out you do when your father tells you he got you engaged to someone you've never met." another laugh sounded from her sister.

"That is the kind of working out that leads to babies. I thought you knew that big sister." I laughed. This girl had spunk.

Kioni laughed too. "I'm afraid it was more I beat on him while he listened to me complain."

"So dad is serious then?" Akina's tone changed.

"It seems so."

"And what are you planning to do? And how can I help?" Clearly, Akina and Kioni were well-practiced at evading their father's wishes.

"I don't know. I will think of something. It'll have to be quick though. He will be here by the weekend." Kioni sounded worried.

"In that case, I would spend much more time with that one across the hall," This statement surprised even me.

"What?" Kioni sounded confused.

"I know for certain that no man will want to marry you if you already seemed attached. And it seems to me like our visitor would be fair game in helping you out." Akina explained it as though it were simple. And it was really. But it was also brilliant and devious. I decided that I liked her.

"It could work..." I heard Kioni musing over it.

"Of course. Ask him tomorrow on your jog."

"I think I will." And then they were off on some other subject, the kids I think. I tuned out. I had plotting to do too.

I was going to have to get Akina a fruit basket or something if this all worked out.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here goes another one. Thanks for the support again!**

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The sun hadn't come up yet when I woke up this morning, as usual. What was unusual was that I was not alone. Kioni's quiet knock echoed through my room, so low that I was pretty sure if I wasn't a mutant I wouldn't have heard it. She always decided to visit before 5 in the morning, but not for the usual, fun reasons that women normally sneak in a man's room for. She wanted to plot. Don't get me wrong, this was fun too, but honestly, being someones fake boyfriend is all the stress of a relationship without physical gratification.

And if there's anything I am all about, it's physical gratification.

But I sucked it up, because if this worked, I might be getting some soon. Or at least eventually. Either way works. But I hope it's soon. A man's got needs you know.

I opened the door and she swept in, her robe billowing slightly behind her. She always showed up in her pajamas and let me tell you, in a warm environment with no air conditioning, pajamas don't consist of much fabric. Which honestly, was not helping my needs. Her robe was a weak excuse for a cover up; it was thin and everything, and I mean everything was clearly outlined. It was like having a Christmas present sitting on your bed and not being able to unwrap it.

Damn her. She had to know what she was doing.

I fired back of course, forgoing wearing a shirt, because I always have to have the upper hand. It's a big part of who I am. That and six-pack abs. Or at least, I think it is. It might not have been, but I decided last week that I should add that to my personality traits. There are some minor advantages to being amnesic. Picking out personality traits is one of them.

I pried myself away from my thoughts in time to listen to what Kioni was saying. She had flounced in my room, sat herself on my bed and was now adjusting her robe slightly. I noticed immediately that her hair had changed; it was in small, intricate braids that twisted back from her forehead in a swirly pattern. I had to admit that it looked nice. It looked great in fact, but I'm guessing it had taken a lot of time to get it that way. And seeing as her fiance was supposed to be showing up later on today, I guessed it was for his benefit.

I didn't like that at all. That was a hella lot of work for a man you didn't want to marry. I was going to have to mess those braids up a little bit. I had an idea as to how.

"He should be here in the evening," Kioni was saying.

"No hello?" I asked, mainly to get a rise out of her, but slightly, and secretly, offended. "Always right to business with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Good morning, Wade." she said pointedly.

"Good morning," I gave her a huge smile. "Nice hair. And how are you feeling today?"

"I'd be feeling much better if I knew I wasn't going to be traded like a goat." I snickered.

"You're much prettier than a goat. Goats are smelly. Personally, I'd rather have you." I gave her what could almost be a leer. I had a theory about her, see, and I enjoyed testing it as much as I could. She shuffled uncomfortably and scooted a little further from me. Hmmm...

"Anyway, how are we going to pull this off?" she changed the subject completely, still not looking at me.

"How about something obvious?" I suggested, letting my thoughts run even further away with me. "For instance, I'm pretty sure making out in front of him might get the point across." I accompanied my words with a lovely mental image. She scooted even farther back.

"Too obvious. We could just get caught holding hands or something..." She picked a spot on the wall and was staring at it intently.

"That's not going to do it," I closed the distance between us. "It's not big enough." she tried to move back, but I grasped her wrist. "And also, we never discussed what was in it for me."

She looked nervous."What are you talking about?"

"No one does a favor for nothing. Especially not me. So again, what do I get if I help you with this?" I leaned forward. I knew how intimidating I was when I invaded people's space. I could bully anyone into almost anything. She was no exception.

"How about I help you get back your memory?" she tried to keep her voice calm, but it wavered ever so slightly.

"And how are you going to do that?" I grinned at her. "Do you read minds or something?"

She looked panicked for a moment, but recovered. "I have ways," she said mysteriously.

"What if I don't want my memory back? What if I want something more tangible?" she looked baffled; her eyes opened wide in shock. Then her expression hardened.

"Like what? Money? Fine you can have whatever you like but--" I successfully cut her off by pulling her in and crushing her lips to mine. I held her there for a moment, laughing inwardly at how she went stock still for a second then began squirming. I was stronger though and held her in place. It wasn't really a kiss. My lips weren't moving and neither were hers, but I think I got my point across. I was distracted from my thoughts when I felt a sudden, searing pain.

She had bitten me. On the mouth of all places. I let her go, amused at the lengths she would go to not to kiss me. I had a sneaky suspicion that she was one of a few women who felt this way about my kisses. I was going to have to change that.

"Did you just bite me?" I asked, half laughing. "I'm not that bad of a kisser am I?" An iron-like taste filled my mouth and I wiped a drop of blood on the back of my hand. I was still smiling when I noticed that she was staring at me intently.

Shit. I knew in an instant that the cut on my lip was healing rapidly before her eyes. My secret was out.

"You're a mutant." It wasn't an accusation, but a statement of fact. There was no lying or sweet talking my way out of this one.

So I fired back with a statement of my own. "So are you." She surprised me by no denying it or looking incredulous.

"How do you know?" In lieu of an answer I thought a sudden, very dirty thought about how I'd like to rip her robe off. She flushed immediately.

"That's how." She nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer. "So what are you," I asked her, "a telepath? Do you read thoughts?"

"Desires." She said.

"Desires?" I repeated.

"Yes. I can sense people's desires. It's how I read a person. You can tell a lot about the character of a person judging by what they most desire. For instance, when you first came we let you stay because I couldn't sense anything negative. I still can't. You only wanted answers. But recently, your desires have...shifted." she blushed again as she said this.

"To what?" I egged her on.

"You know what." she snapped. I laughed.

"I knew you could sense it." I fell backward in mirth.

"So you were doing it on purpose?" she sounded relieved. I sat up again and leaned in.

"Doesn't mean I don't really want those things." I whispered in her ear. I felt her shiver and she stood up abruptly.

"So what can you do?" she asked me.

"So far? That I know of? Let's see..." I ticked them off on my fingers. "I can heal, run fast, have super human reflexes and enhanced senses. That's all I know of, for now." she looked impressed.

"You have all of that? My sister and I only have one each..."

"Wait, wait, wait." I stood up too. "Akina is a mutant too?"

"Shh," she put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret. No one is to know. If they did, it could cause many problems."

"Relax. No one is awake yet," I said impatiently. "I would have heard them."

She sighed. "Yes. Akina senses emotions. Between the two of us, we can figure out almost anything about anyone's character." I nodded; it made sense. It also explained why they let me stay. I had better keep my desires in check. "Which is why," she continued, "my offer still stands. We can try to help you piece together your past, if you help me now." she looked at me expectantly.

"Fair enough. But we need to get caught kissing" she opened her mouth, "And I'm not just saying that because you are really hot," I gave her a once over and paused. "We need to plant seeds of doubt, hang out a lot, whisper, I'll get caught leaving your room or something like that, and when we've got him suspenseful, I'll kiss you where he's sure to walk in. And that will be that."

Kioni looked like she was going to protest, but then thought about it. "That could work..." she mused.

"It _will _work. Give me some credit. I'm a genius." she looked skeptical.

"Alright. We will try it."

"We can practice kissing if you like. Biting me isn't going to convince this guy that we have something going on." She smacked me hard in the arm and I smirked.

"Never kiss me like that again. And please, I will keep your secret a secret if you will do me the same favor."

"Deal," I shook her hand. And she didn't have to worry. I would never kiss her like that again. The next time I laid one on her, she wasn't going to know what hit her. Being a good kisser is another of my talents. She got up to leave. Before she turned the knob I called out to her. "Oh and Kioni, anytime you need any other favors," I conjured up another priceless mental image involving the bed in my room for her benefit, "You know where to find me."

She made a disgusted sound in her throat and stormed out, but not before I saw her small smile.

It was going to be a while before messing with her like that got old.


	7. Chapter 7

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Today was a disaster. A few hours after our little chat, he showed up. And bad news, he isn't horrible. Or at least, Kioni doesn't seem to think he is. At first she was putting up this cool front. It was entertaining to watch her shoot him down. But then, something awful happened.

Turns out the guy is charming. Almost as charming as me. His name is Mhina, or something like that and he showed up this evening and ruined everything. He defied everybody's expectations. Unless you're me, that was a good thing. He rolled through casually, in slacks and a nice button down, without a posse at all. He greeted the governor like a old friend, kissed Akina's hand, teased the kids good naturedly, had a conversation about soccer with Akina's husband. And worst of all, he charmed the pants off of Kioni. Well, maybe not the pants. I'm pretty sure they haven't rounded that base yet. But she was all giggles at dinner, all smiles later and even gave him a peck on the cheek before bed.

When I comfronted her about this behavior she said this:

"Well, he's not anything like I expected."

Ditto. He's as tall as me with black hair he keeps low cut to his head. He apparently likes exercising as much as I do. He's polite, listens to other people's stories and has a huge smile. I think he might be considered as attractive as I am. And he is definitely nicer. Which is why I decided he has got to go. Because, let me tell you, he doesn't factor into my plans at all.

I was lying awake that night, trying to work out the quickest and most inconspicuous way of getting rid of him when another knock came on my door. I knew who it was before I answered it; she always knocks the same way. I pulled the door open.

"Hey," Kioni smiled brightly at me. "I figured I could start to hold up my end of the bargain." I almost got excited for a second before I realized she meant helping me get my memory back.

"Yeah, sure." I turned around and marched casually back to my bed and flopped down. "Do what you've got to do," I instructed when she looked around uncertainly.

"Well, I've never done this before, but I have an idea..." she sat down in front of me and held up her hands, one on either side of my head. "I need to touch you," I raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes, "We can get more out of this if there's a physical connection."

"Well I don't doubt that," I purposefully misunderstood, "but how is that going to help me get my memory back?"

She nearly sighed in exasperation, but checked herself. "Let's just try it, alright?"

"I didn't think you'd be around. After all, it doesn't look like you're going to be needing me to get you out of anything. So I was guessing our deal was off."

She looked almost embarrassed. "Well, Mhina is very nice. But that doesn't mean I want to marry him just yet." Just yet? I didn't like that at all. "We might have to alter our plan a little bit. But I'm still going to help you." she smiled like I should be pleased. "Now come on, sit up." I obeyed, more out of curiosity then anything else. She placed her hands on either side of my head. Instantly I felt a strange sort of feeling, like my mind was a book and she was flipping through the pages. I didn't like it. Acting on an unstoppable instinct, I slammed something like a wall down, shutting her out. She reeled back like I had physically struck her.

"Whoa," she breathed, "That's never happened before. But then, I've never tried what we're trying. it was almost like I could read your mind for a second...until you shut me out." she looked almost accusatory.

I didn't apologize. I had no desire for anyone, not even her, to go rooting through my thoughts. That would get me nowhere good. I was almost angry, even though it wasn't her fault. Well, not completely anyway. "Stay out of my thoughts, alright? Just deal with desires or whatever."

"Why? Are you hiding something?" her tone sharpened.

"No. But what if I went looking at all the thoughts you had in a day? It's like being violated. Besides, I already shut you out. You won't be able to get back in. So don't try." I was being short with her, but I didn't care.

"Fine. I see your point. But that hurt," she semi-pouted.

"Don't try that again and that won't happen again." she nodded curtly. Her hands went up again and she closed her eyes. A new sensation started, but it was more pleasant this time. I felt my desires, things that had happened to me, but only the feelings that were associated with them. I knew what they went with: I was feeling jealous, that was earlier today, anger, that was a few moments ago, confusion, that was two weeks ago when I woke up in the tent. And then there was something else. Pain, fear, all negative emotions swarmed in me and I saw things flashing that I knew Kioni wasn't seeing. I was on a table somewhere, there were needles, doctors in coats, my mouth was sewn shut. And all I could feel was heat. Raw, searing pain and heat everywhere and I couldn't move, I couldn't stop it. There was someone there, a large burly man, he looked like a lion. And another man next to him. She was going back further. There was a feeling of desperation, though I couldn't place why, and then relief. Some man, he was older than me, going a little grey at the temples, was offering me something, something that could change me and I was nodding. I got the feeling it was a last resort, but somehow I was happy to take it.

And then it all went black. There was nothingess. My mind had locked her out without warning or my consent. She opened her eyes, still rather calm, but I was struggling. I had to find this man. But where to start? And why did it just stop?

"Well?" she asked expectantly. "Did it help?" I looked at her and opened my mouth, but words, for once, failed me. I settled on nodding. "What did you see?" she prodded further.

"A lot." she at last seemed to sense that they were not good.

"Bad things?" I met her eye.

"Confusing things. And lots of pain." she looked a little scared and moved forward almost like she was going to comfort me. She must have thought better of it though because she pulled back.

"Do you remember anyone in particular?" I probably shouldn't tell her this, but I did.

"A man. He had to be military, a general I think. American. And he offered me something, and I must have agreed. And then the pain started." Kioni's eyes widened.

"We have to find him. He might know..."

"I think he's more likely to find me." Now she truly looked scared.

"Is he a bad man?" the question was childish, but she didn't seem to care. "He won't find you here. He can't. He would have come by now." I nodded, but I knew this man, whoever he was, was coming. I could defend myself, and probably her too. But as for the rest, I wasn't so sure. If he came alone, it would be cake. But the large, blonde lion-man materialized in my mind. He would be a challenge. Kioni was panicking. I gave her a pat on the back.

"You'll be fine. Thanks for the help." I was being overly-cheerful.

"What about you?" she looked fearfully at me, and this time she did grab my hand.

"I'll work something out. I'm tricky that way." I smiled at her, but she didn't look convinced.

"You'll be safe here. I'll makre sure of it." She kissed me lightly on the lips then pulled me in for a hug. I hugged her back, but I didn't get nearly as much enjoyment out of it as I should have. I appreciated her sentiment, but I didn't think I would be the one who needed protecting. I had a feeling it was her.


	8. Chapter 8

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The next morning I went jogging to try and exercise some of the stress off. I was also trying to pry my mind open for any hint as to who the two men I had seen in my memories were. I couldn't get a handle on anything solid. But I couldn't shake the feeling that these guys were "bad men" just like Kioni feared. And I had the sinking sort of feeling that the old guy was the ringleader and the bushy-haired one with sharp teeth was the enforcer who incidentally, needed to go to the dentist and the barber ASAP. But something told me this dude wasn't big on hygiene, but could probably kick my ass if he tried hard enough. It was time to step up my game. I hate getting my ass kicked.

So I took out the katanas. It didn't take me long to get back to the forest where the tent was to practice. The thing was in worse shape now; it was rusted and bent in completely, but I propped it up to take another look. There was nothing. I took the tent down and under it I found a booted footprint. Let me tell you, this thing was HUGE. It looked like a pro basketball player's footprint or maybe some sort of hybrid dinosaur man. Whatever the case, I know who left it: Lion Guy.

This was not a comforting thought. I looked around some more, but he had done a good job of covering his tracks. So then I was left with the thought, did Lion Guy put me here? And why? There must be some reason to drop me off in the middle of Africa and I doubt it was to get in touch with my roots. I had a weird sort of flash right then, like someone had just uploaded something into my mind. The governor's face, then Mhina's popped up in rapid succession. I felt my fists ball in anger, an anger I definitely wasn't feeling a minute ago, and then my eyes fell to my katanas. Suddenly, something clicked.

I was an assassin.

And apparently, I was meant to assassinate these two men. Problem was, I didn't much feel like it. Sure, they irritated me and we weren't all buddy-buddy, but killing them seemed like an extreme way of dealing with that. But there it was, clear as daylight in my mind. I had been sent on a mission, and this was it. I think I was running short on the allotted time to carry out my mission. It was like an hourglass; the sand was ebbing slowly away and when it was all gone, Lion Guy was coming to get me. I had a feeling that if the two men weren't dead, I was going to have a much bigger problem. Like a huge-feral-mutant-attacking-and-laying-waste-to-an-entire-village sort of problem.

And that, is just all sorts of unpleasant.

So what to do? I could of course, just kill the guys. But then again, I didn't know what would happen then. Whatever peace they had worked for would surely evaporate and they would be plunged back into war. Sounds like something the American government could possibly want. Unfortunately for the government, I was not on the same page. Besides, I doubt Kioni and Akina would be too tickled if I killed their dad. That's the sort of thing that ends friendships. I decided to play with my katanas while I worked it out. Trouble was, I didn't do much thinking. It was way too much fun to swing those things around, and before I knew it, I was flipping around, defying gravity and had leveled a tree in the process. Whoops.

That effectively returned me to the real world and I packed it up and jogged back to the village. I was almost back to the warehouse/mansion when someone was in my path. It was the governor.

"Wade Wilson?" he asked me. I nodded. "We need to talk." Surprise, surprise, homeboy spoke fluent English.

"Alright," I switched to English too, for the sake of solidarity. Hey, when in Rome...

He walked me out a little farther, out of earshot of nearly everyone in the village. Not that it mattered. We were definitely the only two people up at this hour.

"It is nice to finally meet you." he started. "I apologize that it has taken so long, but I have been busy. My name is Joshua." definetly not a Swahili name. The surprise must have registered on my face because he smiled.

"I adopted that name in my youth. Missionaries came..." he trailed off. I got the rest anyway. "But I did not bring you out here to talk about me." I resisted the urge to say duh. "I wanted to ask you the nature of your relationship with Kioni." He was giving me a stern look.

Crap. I played dumb. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that she is an engaged woman. So why is she spending an inordinate amount of time with you?" Damn. This guy was a straight shooter.

"You'd have to ask her." I evaded. He wasn't intimidating me, but it was best to play like he was. Let him underestimate me.

"I will. But right now, I am asking you. How do you feel about her?" It was like being in high school when you take a girl on a date and you have to meet her dad. It was starting to work my nerves.

"Kioni is an intelligent, beautiful woman. Whoever this guy is that you have her engaged to is going to have competition, whether it's from me or someone else." He didn't like that.

"If you think that you can steal her--"

I cut him off. "I'm not going to steal her. She's a grown woman and she can make her own decisions."

He argued. "You do not know the circumstances. Mhina is a good man; he can take care of her when I'm gone."

I laughed. "She's more than capable of taking care of herself."

"Not against the enemies I have made." This peeked my interest.

"What enemies?" he had my full attention now.

"Not all like my progressive attitude. Certain other governments would rather I be... removed," he kept his tone light and I had to admire his bravery. "I won't be around much longer. I just want to assure that my daughters, my country, will survive without me." It was a legitimate concern.

"You can't force her to do something. Especially something like that. Let her make her own choice," Joshua nodded thoughtfully.

"And if she chooses you?" he asked.

A thousand dirty thoughts crossed my mind. "Then I could protect her. And everyone else here," I answered instead.

He looked skeptical. "What are you so worried about anyway?" I asked him. "You're young. You don't look ready to die to me." I left off the fact that I was possibly sent here to kill him. I wasn't going to, at least, I didn't feel like it now, so it wasn't important.

He smiled ruefully. "Do not tell my daughters this," he paused and I nodded, "But I have cancer. My days are numbered."

But I hadn't heard a word after 'cancer'. Because, I realized, _I _had cancer. Or I used to.

And with that, a channel in my mind opened up, and I nearly collapsed with the surge of memories that burst forward.

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**Review? Please?**


	9. Chapter 9

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Amnesia might suck, but I was starting to prefer it to actually remembering. Why, do you ask? It could have been the fact that I realized that, yes, I was an assassin, and yes, I was supposed to be assassinating Joshua and what's-his-face. Or, it could have been the stunning fact that I realized if I had an opportunity to kill Kioni and Akina too, I was supposed to take it. Then again, it might have been the fact that today was supposed to be the deadline for me to have wiped out all of these folks and that Lion Guy, was coming. In fact, he was probably already here.

Which was the reason I was now sprinting as fast as I could back to the warehouse/mansion with Joshua thrown bodily over my shoulder. He wasn't coming quietly. Turns out he wasn't too excited about being picked up and moved like a bag of potatoes. But in my defense, there was no time to explain. He would thank me when he wasn't dead. Because I wasn't worried about me. I really, really had no intention of killing them. But Lion Guy, who I now knew went by the alias Sabretooth, wouldn't be so merciful. In fact, the things I remembered about him were bloodcurdling: rapes and murders of women and children, brutal, useless killings of men.

To put it bluntly, this was not a nice guy. He was strong, had a healing factor, heightened senses, and had about a hundred pounds on me. But I could beat him. I knew I had done it before in training sessions. Because I had been in the army, along with some other mutants. We were some sort of task force. Eventually we broke off, Sabretooth's brother backed out first. I guess he grew a conscience. The rest were killed, picked off by Sabretooth. This was the area where my mind was still fuzzy. I could remember why I had stayed; I had cancer, and our leader, Stryker (or something like that) was helping me try and cure it. This was the kind of cancer that you don't recover from. But apparently, I had. I had agreed to some experiment. I remember the pain, searing and white hot. I remember waking up, my mouth sewn shut, and fighting Sabretooth's brother. Why, I don't know. I just remember not wanting to do it, but doing it anyway, like I had no control. I remember Sabretooth showed up. And here is when it get's crazy.

I remember dying.

Which can't be right. Can it?

I also remember having metal in my body, Like inside of me. And having a nifty little treasure chest full of powers that weren't mine, but I could use them anyway. What was weird about this (besides the obvious) was that I no longer had them.

But I did have a memory of my head bouncing off and spinning around like some sort of crazy dreidel.

But I would have to worry about that later. I was getting a-head of myself. Haha.

Joshua's protests brought me back to earth.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled at me.

"Saving your life!" I yelled back. I had reached the warehouse and was now sprinting to my room, yelling for Kioni and Akina as I went. I heard them yelling back and I quickened my pace, nearly dropping Joshua in my hurry. I let him down in front of the pool.

"Stay here." he started to argue but I shut him up. "Look, if you don't want to die, I suggest you stay here. I'll be right back. Stay quiet." his mouth snapped shut and he looked fearfully at me.

"My daughters…" he began.

"I've got them." And then I was off again. I skidded around the hallway and banged into my room. I immediately collided with a large, blonde, feral looking man.

Ah shit.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Sabretooth, or Victor Creed, was smiling at me, his lips pulled back over sharp, cat-like canines.

"Long time no see, Creed." he had Kioni and Akina and her family behind her. They looked terrified, especially the kids. Of them all, Kioni was by far the calmest, but it wasn't saying much. She was sweating bullets, her wide eyes trained on me, pleading with me to save her.

I was going to try.

"Ah, so you remembered." Creed seemed pleased. His smile widened and he took a step sideways, blocking me from the rest of the group. My katanas, were still on my back, but I knew the second I reached for them, the battle would be on. I needed to get him away from everyone else. "How long did it take you?" his deep voice was like a growl.

"It was just a few minutes ago." he laughed.

"You always did like to procrastinate."

"I always got the job done in the end." I was circling him, trying to find an opening. So was he. Our conversation may have looked innocent (or as innocent as a conversation involving swords, hostages and nails that really needed a manicure, could look) but we were both sizing each other up.

"Except this time." His posture was getting more defensive, and I shifted my weight as well. "I told Stryker not to send you, but he was so thrilled when you came back to us. He can't let go of his little experiment." I scowled at him, but allowed him to keep talking. I needed him to slip up and give me an opening. "first you survived cancer, thanks to my brother's healing factor. Then you survived all those experiments, which I'm betting didn't tickle without any anesthetics. And then, and here's what really makes you special, you die, get your head cut clean off. And a half hour later you're waltzing off that damn island like it never happened. Brand-spanking new body. All the experiments gone, but you still've got my brother's powers. How the hell did you do that, Wade?"

"I'm just a bad ass. The real question is, why did I wake up here?" he grinned again.

"Another little experiment, this time with mind control. See, it worked so well the first time, and you had no idea who you were when you woke up. It was too easy to use some of Stryker's son's…particular brand of influence, to get you to want to assassinate these fine people." he gestured behind him. "But you didn't." he raised his eyebrows.

I shrugged, "Didn't feel like it."

"Should have never sent a boy to do a man's job."

"You mean an animal's job." I fired back.

He shrugged too. "Whatever works. And when I'm done with you," he looked thrilled at the prospect, "I'll finish the rest of them off. I really looking forward to these two," he pointed at the girls, "they smell sweet."

With that comment, I felt the little bit of humanity I had slide back. He had pissed me off. My mind went blank, and I saw red.

"What, speechless?" Creed goaded. "That's a first." he laughed, and I saw my opening.

Before he could even blink my swords were out and the two of us were hurtling out of a window in a shower of shattering glass.

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**Sorry, I've been on vacation. I squeaked this chapter in, but it might be a little while before the next one. I haven't given up though. Thanks for the support and please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

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Before we get to the rest of my story, may I first say that flying through glass hurts. You see everyone do it in movies and on television and they just get up like it was as easy as falling through a wall of water or something. Well, they're lying to you. Imagine tiny, clear, sharp pieces lodged everywhere into you and there is no way in hell you're going to get them all out and besides, you now have to fight with glass being shot out of you in every direction and your healing factor going crazy. Just saying. It's not fun.

The one upside to our little tumble was that Creed took most of the hit, and therefore, most of the shards, including three very large pieces that forced their way through his creepy trench coat and into his hairy back. He didn't like that very much. So while he was cursing and sputtering I seized the opportunity to kick him even further away from the window. I didn't have to yell for the other's to run. Unlike most people they had the good common sense to sprint off the minute they saw us go through the glass. I could hear Kioni yelling; sounded like she was evacuating the whole damn building. Which could be good or bad. If I won, everyone would be safe. If I lost, well, Creed would have more prey. And he's the kind of asshole who likes to play with his food before he eats it.

There was only one thing to do, then. Win.

Which was admittedly easier said then done. Creed's a tough SOB. Yeah, I managed to kick him about ten meters past the window. But he got up, landing on all fours like some sort of great cat and snarled at me. Not human snarled either. He pulled back his teeth, his hackles (which I didn't even know humans had) went up, his claws (again…not a typical human feature) came out and he growled. I was willing to bet if you scratched him behind the ears or rubbed his belly he would purr. I didn't much feel like testing my theory though. If I was going to scratch him with anything, it would be swords, and I doubt it would tickle.

In my peripherals, I saw villagers running as fast as they could away from the battle. Luckily they were staying together, but I say 'Gary', the one built like a beach ball, go by. He wasn't doing too good. Unfortunately, Creed saw him too. He gave me this look, an evil look, and I knew immediately what he was going to do. I may have had him in skill, but Creed had me in brute strength, and he knew that it wasn't just my own back I had to watch, but everyone else's too. Naturally, the bastard took advantage. Not cool.

He went sprinting after 'Gary' like a lion on all fours and I heard chubby let out a scream. If I had time to check, I probably would have found out that he wet himself. He was running as fast as he could, but of course in typical horror-movie style, he tripped. And he did roll! But there was no time to dwell on the satisfaction of seeing a large man rolling around like beached whale. I leapt forward, blades swinging and put myself between him and Creed. This hurt more than the glass did. I took ten, razor sharp, dirty claws to the chest as Creed hurled me like a rag doll over his shoulder. I used my blade to swing around him, cutting him across the chest and over the shoulder in the process, landing on his back and pushing him to the ground. Now, this would have more than killed a normal guy. But, you guessed it, Creed was far from normal. He roared and reached behind him, ignoring the blood that was gushing out of his dislocated and rapidly healing arm, and pulled me down off of him before I could finish what I started, namely decapitating him. I folded in a ball as he threw me, landing gracefully over his head. The minute I touched down, I started swinging again.

I should probably explain that if you were watching this fight with the naked eye, you would be lost. You needed to slow it down. We both move too fast. For instance, I swung for Creed's jugular, he dodged, popped his arm back in and swung for me again all in the space of about three seconds. The battle went on like that for several minutes, swinging, blocking, moving, growling, occasionally someone landed a blow. The ground was covered in blood, but you wouldn't know who it came from by looking at us. Our skin was splitting and resealing itself faster and faster as more adrenaline pumped through us. A nasty gash across my abdomen that almost gutted me looked more like a scrape now, and a huge chunk that I took off of Creed's meaty neck was growing back like a sped up video of a Chia Pet.

Long story short, we were getting nowhere fast. I needed a new strategy. Trouble is, it's hard to think about more than surviving when a giant cat-man is trying to kill you and everyone else. I elbowed Creed in the face to buy me more time, but he just reared upward, threw me through a hut a few yards away and came pouncing back. I leapt up but got slammed down again, this time through table in the hut. A table made of stone. I saw spots for just a second, but I knew that was too long. Creed could win.

Then Creed did something I never would have suspected. He grabbed his head in pain, like something was trying to burst out of it. It gave me time to pull myself together, but Creed shook off what was bothering him and moved toward me. Again, he grabbed his head a second before he reached me, and I kicked him through the other side of the hut, making a mental note to reimburse whoever owned the place. I ran outside to finish him off, watching as he writhed in pain on the ground, still clutching his head.

Now there is a time for chivalry, when men shake hands, or decide not to fight an unarmed man.

This was not it.

I lunged forward and hauled into him. Creed was putting up a feeble fight, but I was too quick. My katanas were spinning, Creed was screaming and I was a second away from severing his head from his neck and punting it like a football when suddenly my limbs froze and I dropped to the ground. I couldn't move.

What the hell was going on?

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**Thanks to all of you guys who consistently review. You're awesome!**


	11. Chapter 11

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I tried to move again, anything, even wiggle my fingers. It was all a wasted effort. I could barely blink. My knees locked and I fell forward, plunging headlong into the ground. It didn't tickle. I heard my nose give away with a sickening sort of crunch. My vision was blurred by dirt and blood, the irony taste saturating my senses. This was not good.

I managed to crane my eyes up enough to look at Creed. He was in a similar situation. He could move, lucky bastard, but his head looked like it was still trying to split down the middle. I hoped it did. That would make my job a hell of a lot easier.

I contemplated what was happening to me. There must have been a reason why I couldn't get up. I thought really hard about it, and then I felt a tickle in my mind, almost like the feeling you get when you're about to sneeze. I suddenly realized what was going on. Someone, a telepath most likely, had hacked it's way into my brain and had me in its control like a puppet on a string.

I didn't like it. I screwed up all my concentration and slammed the walls of my mind shut. It was second nature, just like I had done with Kioni. Only this time, I pushed in a psychic kick. Instantly, I felt my limbs start tingling. I was back in control. I stood up quickly and reached for my weapons. I needed to take care of Creed then find whoever it was who was doing this and take them out too.

I should have moved faster. Another stab of searing pain rocked my mind and I collapsed again. This time the pain didn't fade. It burned white hot in my head, rendering me completely useless. I could move this time but it wasn't good for much except to grasp my head like I was trying to tear out what was in there. Huh, this must be what was going on with Creed. I didn't have much time to dwell on that though, because another familiar voice rang out above me.

"Well, Wilson, I always knew you were the perfect soldier. You shook off that telepath pretty fast didn't you? Almost thought you had us for a second…" I heard footsteps move around me. A pair of camouflage-covered legs came into my line of vision and I forced my head up, following the legs to a barrel-shaped torso and a head full of short-cropped, graying hair.

Stryker.

He was smiling at me, almost like a father would at his son for winning a baseball game. He removed his mirrored aviators and crouched down.

"Good thing we had a backup plan. I learned the first time you know, to have a backup plan with you. Especially when we learned you can't be killed. Fascinating…" he trailed off and straightened up. "Braddock!" He was yelling for someone. A woman strode forward to his side. And hot damn, she was gorgeous. She was tall, all legs and curves with a dangerous gleam in her eye. Asian and purple hair to boot. She was hard not to notice, every nerds fetish come true. I would have hit on her, but I noticed her eyes were glowing with some sort of violet energy. It occurred to me that she was responsible for the issue I was having. Stryker confirmed it.

"This son of a bitch mentally kicked me." she complained in a soft, deceptive sort of voice. "Good thing I like 'em fiesty." Stryker ignored her.

"Wilson, meet Betsy Braddock, telepath, mind control expert and memory modifier. Just to mention a few of her talents…" he smiled creepily at her and she returned it. "She's the reason you're here without a memory and why you're now laying in the dirt bleeding," he smirked at me and I decided that the moment this bitch let me go, I was going to kick him as hard as I could in the balls. And that was just to start.

"Braddock, huh?" I looked up at her and smiled. "The gorgeous ones are always crazy." she smiled back.

"I've still got you on your knees in front of me," she grinned devilishly. I opened my mouth to retort, but Stryker cut us off.

"You can flirt with Wilson later, Braddock."

"I don't think that's going to happen again chief." I snarled at Stryker. Anime-girl laughed.

"It will, especially after I erase your memory again. I could make you anything I want…" she trailed off suggestively. I had a feeling a teenage boy would be squirming in pleasure right now, but I had been around the block a few times and it was going to take more than a tiny chick in purple S&M spandex to get me riled up.

"So what am I?" I asked Stryker. "Just a toy?" He smiled.

"A valuable piece of equipment, Wilson. Think about it. A man no one can kill. Deadly with blades, fluent in more languages then most people can count, innocent on the outside but easily controlled. All it takes is a little psychic push."

"It didn't work though," I gritted through my teeth.

"Ah, but the beauty is we can always erase your memory and try again. And I'm willing to bet that after we wipe your mind clean a few times, you'll put up less of a fight." he smiled again. Braddock kept eyeing me like a piece of candy. I ignored her.

"So why send Creed?" I asked.

"He gets bored when we keep him in one place too long," Stryker said easily, "And besides, someone had to finish the job. I wanted it more subtle, but it won't take too long to kill everyone in this place. Or maybe just erase their memories…" he looked at the girl again and she winked. "but before we do that, we need to resolve a tiny issue…" Stryker seemed to notice then, that Creed was still writhing on the floor. He walked over and inspected him. "There's a mutant here. One that isn't mine." I didn't like his term of ownership and I noticed Braddock flinch. "Whoever it is has got Creed." He declared, his tone suddenly far less pleasant. "Tell me who it is, and everyone's memory just gets erased. We might even give them some good ones to replace them. If you don't, well, we're just going to have to go through these fine people one by one until we figure out who it is. And that's a lot of bloodshed." he leaned in farther toward me. "So your call, Wilson. What's it going to be?"

I noticed that the entire village was lying face down on the ground, much like I was. They were all at the mercy of this crazy bitch who looked like she couldn't wait to do whatever she was going to do. Stryker was tapping his foot impatiently, and Creed was distracting me by roaring in pain every few seconds.

Ah crap. How do I get myself in situations like this?

I was thinking about my next move when I felt another sort of mental tickle. This time it wasn't like the other; it was like being tapped on the shoulder. The next moment I felt a desire surge forward: I had to stay still, not give in, play it cool. Because Kioni had a plan.

Hmm…apparently she figured out how to project her desires to me and link them with mine. And by the looks of Creed, she was probably messing with him too. Pretty nifty. I glanced up at Braddock to see if she noticed anything. She is a telepath after all. Fortunately, she seemed too intent on staring hard at me. She was probably mentally undressing me. Not that I blame her. It happens a lot. But still. Now was not the time or place.

"Not telling?" Stryker asked me conversationally. "Fine then," he nodded at Braddock and she smiled and began to turn around. I could hear others around me start to writhe in pain. She pulled out two purple blades like mine, except they seemed to materialize out of the air and were glowing a violent violet. Crap. Kioni better move fast.

Apparently, she was thinking the same thing because I felt my mind shake itself loose again and heard Betsy scream. I was up in a second, swords at Stryker's neck and my knee in his groin. He doubled over in pain and I looked up in time to see both Kioni and Akina and Mhina running full speed at their violet-colored foe. Kioni hit her first. They both went down in a tangle of limbs. The distraction forced Braddock to let go of all the villagers, but apparently Kioni couldn't hold Creed any longer because he was up and running at me.

The battle was back on. Damn, I hope we win.

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**A/N: Another update! I should be wrapping the story up soon. Thanks for all of the support! Oh, and obviously I went a little AU here with the characters. But hopefully it all makes sense. **


	12. Chapter 12

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In addition to being beautiful, insane and possessing purple hair, Betsy Braddock was a martial arts master. Not as good as me, but still a damn bit better than Kioni. Which was not good. But somehow, Kioni was holding her own. Akina was helping her, and together, the three women were waging the strangest fight I had ever seen. And I've seen some weird stuff.

Creed and I were actually becoming distracted trying to watch them. Creed's desire was a little more perverse than mine, but I'll admit that when three gorgeous women are fighting to the death (and ripping clothes along the way) it's sort of hard not to watch. Besides, every once in a while, one would grab her head, or fall to the ground in obvious psychic pain. Betsy was powerful, but there were two pissed off African women who were just as (if not more so) powerful fighting for everything they cared about. And let me tell you, they were dealing out quite the ass-kicking. They were going at her in turns. Every hit Braddock got in, psychic or otherwise, was countered at least twice by the sisters. They were working flawlessly, like they had practiced this all before. Maybe they had.

Mhina, or whatever his name was, was putting up a decent fight too. He managed to get Stryker in a head lock and was focusing on holding him there. They were about equally matched. Stryker had obviously let himself go recently, he was starting to get chubby on his power trip. Should have done some missions himself instead of sending Creed. Ah well, his pudginess was working to our advantage. Creed was distracted enough by the chick fight to let me get a glimpse of "Gary" huffing and puffing over to Stryker. I was wondering what he was going to do to help when he either tripped or executed the most perfect body slam I have ever seen. It was priceless watching his bubble butt hit Stryker full force, forcing his head into the dirt.

I was cracking up when Creed took a cheap shot and nearly ripped out my kidney. That hairy bastard. I retaliated by using my swords to take out a chunk of each leg. He didn't like that. He roared back, I feinted right, then went left, jumped over his shoulder and stabbed him through the back. This either killed him, or knocked him out. I couldn't tell, but he wasn't moving. Just to be sure, I pulled them out and went with the original decapitation plan. I was inches away (again) when I felt my body get thrown off of his, fly ten meters, and hit a tree.

Ouch. Telepathic bitch.

Braddock was running toward me, her purple blades swinging. Akina was bleeding on the ground; Kioni was pulling her up, but had a nasty cut across her back. I just managed to pull myself up and counter Braddock's blows. She was almost as good as me, and a lot more fun to fight than Creed. She must have had some honor; she didn't take cheap shots, but fought like a ninja. If she wasn't trying to kill me, I think we could be friends.

I messed around with her for a few minutes before I got sick of it. Two swings of my arms and she was disarmed, another swing and she was unconscious. I ran for Stryker. He saw me coming. His eyes were widening in horror and I knew that for this to truly be over, I had to kill him. No problem.

I just didn't count on Creed waking up, sinking his claws into me and doing a move that looked a lot like the "Rock Bottom" to me into the hard earth.

And that's the last thing I remember about that fight, because it all went black. I came to again, maybe only five minutes later and almost didn't want to open my eyes. I could be anywhere. I got up the courage and cracked them open, just for a peek. I was still lying face up in Africa. Kioni was bending over me, her long hair falling over us like a curtain. Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying.

"Oh, God, Wade…" she trailed off in sobs. I sat up a little bit to look around.

The ground was covered in blood; some the color of dry rust, others fresh and in puddles. "Gary" was nursing what looked like Mhina back to health. He was out cold. Akina had her kids in her arms and was trying to calm their bawling. Her husband was running around trying to restore order and see who needed help.

And Stryker, Creed, and Betsy were gone. I looked at Kioni questioningly.

"They just left," she said between sobs, "Creed grabbed that purple-wearing bitch," I snickered, "and they jumped on this helicopter that came out of nowhere. I don't know if they'll come back." I struggled to my feet, my head swimming. Kioni nearly knocked me over again as she threw herself into my arms. "Wade," she sobbed harder into my blood-stained and ripped shirt, "My father, they killed…" she dissolved into body shaking sobs.

And now I knew why they had left. They did what they came to do. I wasn't important enough to them right now. They could always come and get me at some later time. I sighed. This was not good.

"Where is he?" I asked her. She didn't say anything, but grabbed my hand and dragged me off. We went into the main house, down the hall and to Joshua's office.

"We moved his body. I think that the old guy, Stryker?" she paused and I nodded. "We think that he did it while you were distracted because," she gestured to the covered body laid out on the desk. I moved the sheet a little bit to see one clean bullet hole. That was Stryker's work alright. And he would be back, sooner rather than later, to get me.

"Kioni, I'm sorry---" I started off comforting her, but she interrupted me. I was glad. I've never been very good at comforting people. I just make it worse.

"I'm going to have to marry Mhina now. Just to keep the peace. This could start a coup…" she had stopped her crying, but her eyes were still wide and hallow. She looked resolved though. I had to admire her selflessness.

"I have to leave," since we were talking about things we had to do, I threw mine into the hat. "Stryker will be back for me, and trust me, you don't want me here." She nodded, seeming to contemplate something. Without warning she threw herself back into my arms and kissed me.

Despite the fact that we were both drenched in sweat, blood and dirt, it was a nice kiss. She managed to wrap her arms around my neck and I got mine around her waist and then we were kissing like a couple of hormone-filled teenagers. I knew she just needed comforting, but I didn't care. This was one type of comforting I was good at.

"Don't leave yet," she whispered when she pulled away. "Stay one more night." She nearly bowled me over with the desire that she projected into my mind at that moment. Hot damn. Now I had to stay. No red-blooded man could turn that down. "I need you." she whispered again.

"Alright. I'll help you guys sort this out today and then I'll spend one night." I promised her. She smiled weakly, her eyes welling up again.

"Okay," she whispered. And then she was gone.

I watched her and Akina spin around like tornadoes, getting everything back in order. Creed and I only managed to level one house and Kioni quickly found rooms for its occupants in the mansion/warehouse. Then they got everyone who was hurt patched up, calmed everyone down and then made what was probably their hardest announcement of their lives. People were crying, but the sisters held themselves together and they and Gary started the funeral arrangements.

I was packing my bag when there was a knock on the door. I turned around to see Mhina standing there. What the hell did he want?

"Hello," he greeted me in Swahili. "Can I have a word?"

I shrugged. "Sure," he walked in.

"I am going to marry Kioni," he started.

"I noticed," I kept my voice nonchalant.

"I will take good care of her and love her," why was he telling me all of this? I did some mental eye rolling. "But I know she cares greatly for you."

Ok… "Does she?" I asked carelessly.

"You know this. And that is why tonight, she needs you." I looked up at him sharply. He held up a hand.

"It is fine. I just wanted to say that there will be no hard feelings on my side. She and I have only just met, but you two have had something for a while, if I have been informed correctly." I nodded and smiled a little smugly. "And I know," he continued, "That you will need to leave and live your own life for a while, but I just wanted to let you know that she will be in good hands. And when you sort out, whatever it is you need to sort out…" I laughed and he smiled weakly, "please come and visit."

I was sort of taken back. Hell, I _was _taken back. This guy was actually nice. Really nice. I didn't know that happened. But he was sincere, his body posture relaxed, no sweat, calm, cool eye contact. He was a good guy. He deserved Kioni.

But I got her for tonight. And that thought, my friends, had me smiling a huge, Cheshire Cat grin.

I shook his hand.

"Thanks." He nodded. "Good luck, with keeping the peace and all that." He smiled.

"Good luck getting your memories back. Oh, and may I ask you one thing?" I raised an eyebrow but agreed. "When you find the men who did this, make sure they pay." He grinned a little wickedly.

So he wasn't that nice. But I had to agree with him. I think that if we had time to get to know one another I might end up liking him.

"No problem. I'll send you a postcard when it's done."

He just laughed.

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**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! For some reason, I can't view any of the new ones from the last chapter (Fanfiction has been weird lately), but I know they're there. And that makes me happy. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This is a slightly more graphic chapter. Just FYI.**

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It had been a long day. Something about fighting and nearly being killed by a giant, hairy, feral mutant, his telepathic bimbo, and their commander takes a lot out of a guy. Not to mention the aftermath. I'm not exactly a sensitive guy, or at least, I'm not anymore. But watching people clean up the wreckage of their homes while crying over the death of a beloved leader brought out some latent humanity in me. Especially if I looked at Akina and Kioni. The kids were crying endless tears for their grandfather. It was pretty damn depressing. I tried to distract them for a while, and it sort of worked, by telling them stories and showing them magic tricks. The little girl was more easily distracted, but the boys only gave me weak smiles. I knew that their innocence had been shaken. I vowed to pay Creed back for taking away some of their childhood. Creed and Stryker had to go. And I wanted to be the one to do it.

I flopped down on my bed after a quick shower, content to let violent thoughts of vengeance carry me off into sleep. I was just about to hit that place where you really get into your REM cycle when I heard a quiet knock on my door.

"Wade?" Kioni didn't wait for me to answer, but pushed my door open and whispered quietly for me. I rolled over and looked at her. She looked a mess; her eyes were red and puffy, her hair had come out of its normally immaculate braid. She looked pale and tired. I smiled at her and gestured for her to come in. She did so, slowly, her feet making no sound on the hard wood floor. She lowered herself onto the bed beside me. I took a deep breath and the smell of saline hit me hard. She was quietly crying, her body heaving up and down, her face buried in her hands.

"Some day, huh?" I sat up and scooted closer to her. She nodded.

"I'm sorry, it's just-"

I slung my arm over her shoulder. "Hey. It's ok. You've got the right to cry."

"You're not crying," she half-whimpered at me. I could tell that my indifference was bothering her.

"My father didn't die." I explained, "And besides, I've seen some terrible things. This just goes on the list of things I repress," I tried to joke, but she didn't look convinced. In fact, she looked sadder, if that was possible. It took me a second to realize that she felt bad for me. She really was a damn nice girl.

"Mhina and I talked earlier," she began, changing the subject.

"Yeah, he talked to me too." She looked unsurprised.

"Wade…" she apparently couldn't finish her thought. Instead she turned to me and flung herself into my arms (again). I pulled her down on top of me. "Please," she whispered in my ear. I didn't know for sure what she was asking for, but I'd give it my best shot. Even though it was nearly midnight, and therefore pitch black in my room, I found her lips with no issues. I devoured them hungrily, and she returned the fervor. She was a damn good kisser, despite the fact that her face was wet from tears. I wiped them away with the back of my hand and kissed her cheek, trailing my lips over her neck, going progressively lower. She gave a low sort of moan that egged me on.

Her hands were dragging slowly over my chest and I pushed them away to pull the shirt over my head. She gave a soft little gasp when it was off. I smirked. My naked chest was a work of art. I pulled her to me again, and this time her hands wandered with more desperation, like they were trying to get inside of me. Her eagerness was turning me on even more, but I wanted to enjoy this. I grabbed her hands and held them tightly a few inches from my chest. She gave a groan of protest, but I ignored her and pushed her down under me, holding her hands above her head. I continued kissing her, trying to ignore the way her body arched under mine every time I moved, desperate for contact.

Before I knew it, her shirt was off on the ground near and her bottoms were dangling somewhere near her knees. She didn't bother with the lingerie American girls always had on. There was nothing lacy or frilly, no see-through thong or teddy. In fact, she wasn't wearing anything under her pants. Which was _hot_. And honestly, much more convenient for what I wanted to do. Women always got pissed when you ripped those stupid things anyway. This would be one less awkward moment during the morning after.

My hands were all over her. She was making some seriously sexy noise and struggling to free herself from my gasp. I let her go, mostly because she had two beautiful breasts and I would need both hands to get the full feel of them if you get my drift. Her hands flew to me like iron to a magnet, and I'm pretty sure at that point, I started making some noise too.

And then we hit a little snag. Scratch that. A pretty big snag. There are some things a guy as experienced as me is bound to notice during intimacies, and her obvious discomfort when I touched where the sun don't shine was one of them.

"What's wrong?" I was pretty annoyed actually, but she gave me this really innocent, lip-biting look that broke my resolve.

"I've never had sex before," she blurted.

That was a buzz kill mainly because my damn conscience made an unwanted reappearance. Wade, it told me, you can't do this. She's getting married. She just wants you because she's sad. If you had any self respect-

I told my stupid conscience to shut up and tried to keep going, but the damn voice was undeterred. You can't! It protested more loudly. I took one look at Kioni's nervous expression and sighed. Damn fine time to get morals. I was pissed at myself. But I still heard my mouth saying, "Kioni, we can't do this."

"But-" she started to protest.

"You're sad, and you have a crush on me." She looked confused, then insulted. Alright, it was probably more than a crush, I admitted to myself, but kept my thought from her. "But this," I gestured to our shiny, naked bodies, "isn't how to deal with this. Especially if you want your future marriage to work out." She looked shocked.

"Wow…" she breathed, still looking at me like I had just grown another head.

"I know. And let me tell you, considering how long I've wanted to get you naked and under me, this is a big thing for me. So you might want to put some pants on before I change my mind." I waggled my eyebrows at her, but rolled off.

She looked at me for a moment, like she was getting ready to protest but then changed her mind. She stood up and pulled her pants on and I tried not to focus on how wonderful she looked silhouetted by moonlight. She turned and looked at me. "Thank you Wade," she said quietly.

I nodded. I expected her to go back to her own room, but to my surprise, she picked up my pants and crawled back into bed, offering them to me. She looked down at my sizeable problem and smiled. "Here," she put them over my lap, "You need to put these on too, before," her desire hit me like a wave.

"Oh God," I groaned, "Don't do that to me. I'm trying to be a gentleman over here and you're making it really fucking hard," she laughed at my curse. She _was _making it hard. She was making multiple things hard if you get my drift. I hastily pulled on my pants, but left my shirt off. She was still sitting on my bed. I guessed what she wanted.

I laid down on the bed and patted the space next to me. She breathed a slight sigh of relief and laid down, her head pressed against my chest. We stayed like that for a while, me listening to her slightly uneven breathing and thinking. I couldn't believe what I was doing. I don't turn down sex. Yet here I was, comforting a woman in a non-sexual way.

It sort of sucked, but I didn't stop. Because I knew she needed it. Her breathing became deeper and more regulated as sleep started to creep up on her.

"Wade?" her voice surprised me.

"Yeah," I muttered sleepily.

"When you leave tomorrow morning, do you think you'll ever come back?" She had sensed my desire to leave before the rest of the village got up. I didn't try to deny it, but focused on her question. Would I come back?

"I don't know…" and I really didn't.

"Please? Once you're done with all this Stryker business? I'd like to see you again. You mean a lot to me." her admission shocked me.

"Yeah, I'll come. But it might not be for a while," I heard my voice agreeing before I knew it. It wasn't a full out admission of caring about her, but she seemed to understand.

"Good," she stroked my chest, "That thought will get me through this all."

"I mean that much?" I almost laughed a bit. "C'mon, don't joke."

"I'm serious," she murmured. "You mean a great deal to me. And I look forward to you coming back." I digested her sincerity in silence. "Wade?" she asked again.

"Uh-huh?"

"Will you kiss me before you leave tomorrow?" I looked down at her. Her big brown eyes were staring at mine.

"Yeah," I kissed her on the forehead.

She fell asleep, but I lay awake, waiting for morning, my mind reeling. Three o'clock came and went (she rolled over, pressing her back into my chest, forcing us into a spooning position I really didn't mind), then four. I realized I couldn't stall any longer. I stirred and she rolled over, her lips slightly parted in sleep. Without hesitation, I leaned down and kissed them, making a mental note of their exact taste and feel.

And then I was gone, bag over my shoulder, heading south.

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**A/N: Wow, I think I'm going to do an epilogue and that will be it. I really enjoyed writing this story, but school is starting up and it's time to put my thinking cap back on. Thanks for all the reviews and support. Stay tuned!**


	14. Epilogue

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**A/N: Here's the epilogue! I know it took a while, but I had to move back to school. I appreciate all of the reviews and all of the support! I loved writing this story. I hope the ending is up to par. Tell me what you think about it!**

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It's a funny thing, forgetting. I've had the misfortune in my life to forget a lot. I've killed people, I've been killed, I've been experimented on, escaped, brainwashed and controlled. But it all comes down to forgetting. Because as the years went by, I lost more and more of myself until I didn't know what was a legitimate memory and what was an illusion. It's no fun, but your mind learns to deal. It bends and contorts, stretches out and patches empty spaces up. And the ending result is the illusion that you're insane.

I might possibly be insane. I don't think so though, because I am completely aware of how strange it sounds when I say my more insane comments. I think it's more that I have a bunch of personalities. One might be my original one, the others are a result of a hard-knock life.

I'd been walking around in a haze for I didn't know how long. I had fought a few more wars, killed a few more people and even died another time or two. But I always managed to remember two faces. And eventually I found my way to New York to a little school for mutants. And guess who I found there?

James Howlett. Except he goes by Logan now. And he was in a similar boat as me. Except admittedly a little better off. He was in a cushy school teaching. I laughed out loud at that one. The world's greatest assassin teaching? But he was. Logan never had a thing for killing, not like his brother. Well, we had a chat about or pasts. I neglected to tell him that Creed was his half brother after he told me he had killed him a few years back. Some things a guy is happier off now knowing. Turns our Creed left Stryker and joined a mutant terrorist group with that purple-haired bitch. Then he told me that Stryker too was dead, though not directly because of him.

He showed me the metal that ran through him now and we compared notes on being human experiments. He had memory loss too, but luckily I remembered stuff about him, and he remembered some stuff about me. Ironic. So that's how I ended up living semi-contently at this school, dividing time between teaching combat with Logan and hitting on this pretty mutant codenamed Storm. She didn't like me too much, but eh, it passed the time.

Purely by coincidence I asked her where she was from one day. She told me she was from Kenya. And for some reason, that simple answer started the wheels in my head turning. Kenya. I had been there. I knew people there. There was something important about Kenya. Logan, who pretty much dealt with the same crap I did, figured out I was having some sort of memory flash back and offered to go with me. And because the hottie Kenyan mutant Storm (aka Ororo) missed Africa, she said she'd come too.

Which is why I am now sitting in this giant black jet, chuckling to myself at the sexual tension between Storm and Logan and wondering whether or not I'll find anything here. It's already been a few days, and while it's pretty here, it's not doing too much for my memory. That is until we go into a little village and find out that one of it's leaders just died. His name was Mhina.

And I figure out I know that name. And I ask about him. His wife, they tell me, is still alive. They say she moved back to her childhood home. They say she has family there. And it takes me ten seconds to decided that I need to go see her. Because this is something big. Logan just shrugs, Ororo gives me an encouraging smile and we take off in a little rickety jeep. It's rolling and pitching on the unpaved roads and I tease Logan about how he's about to throw up. He hits me in the leg with an admantium laced fist. I shut up for about five seconds. I've got a high pain tolerance.

We roll into this little city. It looks familiar. I hop out and a tubby old guy comes out to greet me. He looks thrilled; there's this huge smile on his aged face, like a walrus bearing it's tusks. Gary. I remember him. I smile back and we chat. He's thrilled I'm back. I've missed so much. Who are my friends? I barely get a word in edgewise before he turns on my buddies and Logan grunts his responses while Ororo answers politely. I'm not really paying attention. Because the back of a woman's head is distracting me.

I look harder. She's young with dark hair that goes down her back in huge curls. She turns around and I think, "Akina." But it's not her. She's too young. But it looks like her. And then two men join her, familiar looking also. And I remember the kids.

They run up, they look stunned too. The girl doesn't remember me too much, but the boys do. We talk and then I'm asking for their aunt. Because I think I've figured out what this place means to me. They take me to her. She's with their mom they say. Their Uncle just died a few months back. They had been married for 12 years. And I know how long I've been gone. 12 years. Which is a damn long time. You miss a bunch in 12 years. But I think it'll be alright. I notice that one of my personalities seems to have retreated on this trip. In fact, my thoughts seem to be dominated by one voice. It's quiet up there and I almost miss the fights the voices use to have. But Logan and Ororo are fighting about something stupid behind me, so that works.

Two women come out of a room, looking confused. They are older, but still beautiful. One older than the other, her hair still jet black and long, but her faced a little more lined, her skin a little less smooth. She looks up at me and gasps.

Kioni. I say her name before my mind even registers the thought and she's throwing herself into my arms and Logan is chuckling behind me and Ororo is sighing like girls do when they think something is cute. Akina is hugging me too and asking me about how life has been. I wish I had something good to tell them, but I settle on joking around and they buy it, at least for the time being. And then we eat and there are introductions. Kioni has three kids, all pretty young still. And then I find myself alone with her.

And she tells me it took me long enough to get back here. And I told her how I nearly forgot. She tells me she's glad I remembered. And then we stare at each other awkwardly. Then I kiss her. And I remember a lot more now. I remember that night, I remember my promise, the kids, the attack, I remember it all. And I remember not remembering, then remembering again and a whole bunch of weird, way too deep shit.

And I push her backward across a familiar bed and make up for lost time. And it's every bit as good as I thought it would be 12 years ago. Hell it's better. And she's almost asleep in my arms, but she whispers a question.

"What are we going to do now?" And I just kiss her again. Because hell, we can figure that out in the morning. For now I'm just glad I'm back.

I'm just glad I remembered.


End file.
